„My husband did not mean to kill Annie Doyle, but the lying tramp deserved it.“This is the opening line of this book and it introduces us to Lydia Fitzsimmons. You better not mess up with her. Then Lydia, the fragile and protected wife of judge Andrew Fitzsimmons, mother of a little boy, is a psychopath.

Lydia comes from a wealthy family. There was always money and she was raised to do nothing except being a wife and a mother. She lives in a big mansion which she inherited and she does not like to socialize. She just needs her husband and her son. But now their money is gone, and somehow they got into a stupid deal with Annie. But Annie did not intent to keep to their deal, she took the money and threatened to blackmail them. Andrew got angry and tried to strangle her. But the final blow came from Lydia who could not stand that Andrew just was not able to do the job properly. She also had the idea to bury Annie in the garden. They could not go to prison, they have their son to care about. Lydia is going back to normal but Andrew is feeling guilty and is in constant fear of being arrested. His conditions and health are rapidly declining and he soon dies. Lydia is perplex and has a breakdown. There was always somebody to take care of her. Laurence decides to start working instead of going to college. So he can support his mother and take care of her now. Lydia likes that very much and she wants to have it like that forever. And she is willing to do everything to keep Laurence with her in the mansion.

Lydia is narcissistic and manipulative. She keeps saying that everything she is doing is out of mother’s love and for Laurence wellbeing. But instead it is egoism. It is a miracle that Laurence turned out so well as an adult. Of course he does not see the real Lydia, she can hide her inner psychopath very well. She knows exactly how to manipulate her son. It is easy to hate Lydia. Laurence is a bit tiring with his efforts to please everybody and he is very lenient towards his mother. Karen, Annie’s Sister, is the third narrator. Her loss and her struggle to be an independent woman in Ireland in the 1980s is very realistic.

This book is a dark psychological thriller with difficult characters and a tragic story. It tells the story of an obsessive mother who is also a psychopath without empathy. Annie’s death starts a series of events which leads to a downward spiral which neither Laurence nor Karen could escape. The book is well written, maybe a little bit aloof; the story multi layered and gripping. I would highly recommend it.

I received an ARC from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review